The benefits of manure as a fertilizer for agricultural purposes are well known. Manure from livestock is an excellent source of fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients desirable for enrichment of soil. Manure is also an important source of organic matter which, when added to soil, helps to improve soil composition, aeration, water infiltration and moisture-retention capability.
As a necessary and inevitable by-product of the livestock industry, manure is in constant supply and a means of storage and preservation is therefore required. For this reason, earthen storage installations in the nature of holding ponds, lagoons and settling basins have been developed and successfully utilized for the storage of large quantities of manure. Since manure is a biologically active substance, during storage, it tends to break down and settle out into fractions of liquids and solids that float, sink or remain suspended in the liquid. Over time, some of these solids tend to form a thick floating crust and other solids tend to settle to the bottom in the form of sludge. If the sludge layer is not periodically agitated and removed, it will eventually decrease the available volume of the storage installation area, thus leading to increased risk of overflows, economic and environmental concerns, etc.
Conventionally, the most common and economical way in which to maintain the manure stored in such an earthen storage installation is through the use of agitation and pumping equipment. Remote-controlled floating vessels with power take-off (PTO), low pressure, high-volume pressure pumps are typically used as agitators for manure ponds and lagoons. These pumps generally include one or more high pressure nozzles that extend into the manure pond and agitate the liquid/solid mixture by using the force of moving water to dislodge and mix the bottom sludge with other floating matter. This creates a slurry mixture that is capable of being pumped from the manure pond into tank wagons for transport and dispersion in the agricultural fields.
While conventional floating agitators work reasonably well for their intended purpose, there are drawbacks. For instance, most floating agitators use the high pressure nozzles or jets not only for purposes of agitation, but also for directional control of the vessel. However, with many floating agitators, one or more of the agitator nozzles often point directly downward from underneath the vessel, out of sight of the operator. Other agitators include above-surface nozzles, but such nozzles are limited in movement only in the vertical direction. This limited visibility and versatility makes directional control of the vessel extremely difficult, particularly when being operated remotely.
Maneuvering a floating agitator in and out of a manure pond or lagoon can also pose a significant challenge. One drawback of conventional floating agitators is that they typically must be pulled out of the lagoon and loaded onto a separate trailer for hauling by a transport vehicle, such as a tractor. Some agitators do include wheels, but such wheels are generally not adjustable relative to the floating vessel. Consequently, the floating vessel can bottom out and become hung up on the ramp, thus loosing valuable time and potentially causing significant damage to the hull of the vessel; this is particularly the case with steep ramps leading into the lagoon.
Another drawback is that, upon launching, removing or simply transporting a conventional floating vessel to or from a manure pond, the operator(s) must manually make the connection of the vessel to a transport vehicle or trailer. Here again, the operator must continually get in and out of the transport vehicle to connect/disconnect the vessel, or have others available to help. This either requires increased manpower or, at a minimum, adds time and inconvenience to the overall operation.
Still further, conventional floating vessels used in manure ponds and the like are often agitated during cold weather conditions, where ice build-up may occur on the pond. Other than through movement of the slurry caused by the jet pumps, there is typically no means by which the vessel can break up large chunks of ice. Thus, the floating vessel can become inhibited from free movement around the pond, making it impossible to adequately agitate the full area of the pond.
Still another drawback of conventional floating agitators is that there is typically no means by which an operator, particularly remotely, can test to determine whether the jet pumps are adequately stirring up and mixing the bottom sludge with the liquid portion of the pond. Particularly with floating vessels having submerged output nozzles, it is difficult to determine where the nozzles are actually being aimed and whether additional sludge may have accumulated on the bottom of a certain area of the pond. It is therefore difficult to determine whether agitation of the pond has been successfully completed, or where additional agitation would be beneficial.
Therefore, it is evident there is a substantial and unsatisfied need in the agricultural industry for a reliable and cost-effective solution to the many drawbacks associated with conventional floating manure agitators. Accordingly, for optimum agitation and directional control, it would be desirable to provide a floating agitator with high pressure jet nozzles that are fully visible and capable of movement in multiple directions. It would be further desirable for the floating vessel to include an adjustable wheel carriage for ease in launching and removing the vessel from a pond, and an automated means for connecting the same to a transport vehicle. It would also provide added benefit to include a cost-effective and efficient means on the floating vessel for breaking ice remotely and for determining potential remaining areas of sludge build-up in the manure pond which require break-up.
It is with the above difficulties of the prior art in mind that has caused me to develop the present invention, which substantially eliminates the aforementioned drawbacks of conventional floating manure agitators and provides new and additional benefits, as will be described in more detail hereafter.